Undercover Lover
by Weeze
Summary: S3. A disturbing case leads Booth & Brennan to Vegas, deep undercover in uncomfortable territory where victims get lured into an endlessly torturous honeymoon. Rated for a reason. On Hiatus. Sorry!
1. Chapter 1

Undercover Lover. Written by myself after watching every Bones ep of S1, S2 and then S3 this holiday :) Takes place early January, just weeks after The Kiss, leaving the team mystified about the awkward tension between our heroes...

I don't own anything to do with Bones, with the exception of the DVD box sets. I'd gladly trade them in for a night with DB tho ;)

Chapter One...

"Dr Brennan?" the voice of her former assistant Dr Addy drifted across from his workstation as he peered at a fragment of cranium in his gloved fingers.

Turning on the spot, Brennan made her way over to Zach's desk, peering at the magnification on the screen with interest.

"Bevelling indicates the bullet entered the frontal and exited the skull through the occipital, almost the same angle as the other female victims. All male victims indicate a numerous amount of projectiles, measuring .38 caliber, shattered the spleenchnocranium entirely."

"Good work Zach," Brennan praised her young colleague, "Was the same gun used for all eight victims?"

"Consistent, .38 caliber," Zach replied, still studying the female cranium, "Cam wanted a word with you."

"Thank you," Brennan dismissed him, turning to make her way to the autopsy suite to find Cam, her mind still working on the facts. Four women and four men had been found out in Las Vegas, decomposed beyond recognition, no identifying features on any of the bodies. Stress markers and noticible fractures suggested these victims had all been bound by wrists and ankles for a length of time and severely beaten. The women had simply been executed with a single gun shot to the head from a shooter who was between six foot two and six fooot four in height. The males victims however had been shot repeatedly in the face so many times that the skulls were proving very difficult to piece together for Angela to work with.

"You wanted to see me?" Brennan queried, standing in the doorway of the autopsy suite, watching her immediate boss remove a human organ from a jar and slice a portion off for testing.

Cam looked up briefly, pointing to a piece of paper on the side counter with a gloved hand.

Picking up the paper, Brennan read the paper, her mind racing over it's meaning as the words sank in.

"What?"

"That's what I said," Cam frowned, replacing the organ and sealing the jar once more. Stripping off her gloves, the pathologist dropped them into a hazardous waste bin and walked over to join the forensic anthropologist. "The F.B.I. requests your prescence on an undercover investigation in Las Vegas. You'll be working the same case apparently, just following the leads the identifications have given us."

"Do I have a choice in this?!" Brennan argued, "Am I just going to be whisked away by some agent and told what to do?"

"Booth called to make sure I'd let you go." Cam replied, feeling like she was missing something, Dr Brennan almost always wanted to be out in the field with Booth, "He said Tony would swing by to pick up Roxie at lunch and explain it all." She shrugged, "Hope that makes sense to you."

Brennan stood in the doorway, her mind processing the facts she had; Booth had gone behind her back to ensure that she would be able to go to Vegas with him, presumably as Roxie and Tony to work the case. He had to have known that she wouldn't want to go after how awkward their first case after Christmas had been.

"Take as long as you need, Zach's working on identifying the victims, Angela is searching the Missing Persons database, you help Booth catch this sonovabitch."

"Thank you," Brennan replied absent mindedly, turning away from the pathologist who had just doomed her. "I'll get my things."

"Why?" Angela appeared behind her, "Have we got a lead?"

"I'm going to Vegas with Booth, apparently they have a clue about something, we'll be undercover again." Brennan muttered, already walking away from her friend, ignoring the fact that Angela was in fact chasing her, with high heels on.

"Bren, you cannot escape me forever," Angela called, watching as Brennan strode across the lab to her office, shutting the door behind her and sinking onto her desk chair. Catching up, Angela pushed open the door, ignoring the glare that Brennan sent her way as she closed the door behind her. "What's up?" She asked, perching on the arm on the sofa and leaning forwards to move the webcam aside, making sure she had an unobstructed view of her best friend. .

"I'm working this case, trying to figure out what happened to these eight people." Brennan replied stiffly, "I don't have time to be dragged across the country when the answers are here."

"You don't have time to investigate how eight people were murdered?" Angela repeated, incredulously. "Sweetie, what's wrong with you?"

"Booth went behind my back Ange, he arranged it with Cam, made sure I wasn't able to make my own decision. Just like last week, he's trying to control me."

"Bren, last week you refused to leave the lab to help him with his case, we're just as confused as he is." Angela sighed, reaching forward to take her best friend by the hand, "A woman's perogative is to change her mind, sure, but, Sweetie, a guy like Booth deserves a little explanation for it."

"An explanation for what?" Brennan questioned, "For wanting to do my job in peace without being dragged out?"

"For shutting him out Bren, you know you're doing exactly what you did last summer? You're blaming him for something and he doesn't know what," Angela paused, taking in her best friend, tilting her her head to consider her face, "You're scared of being with Booth."

"Don't be ridiculous," Brennan shot back, her ocean coloured eyes frozen on her friends darker eyes.

"We talked about this," Angela spoke softly now, understanding the problem had in fact, very little to do with work. "I told you how freaked out you were about being left at the altar with Booth," she smiled, "You can't deny it, it's been two weeks now; something happened at Christmas, didn't it?"

Not knowing how to answer that question, Brennan busied herself with shutting down her computer, "It has been two weeks since Christmas and even longer since I understood what you were talking about, but what has that got do with that altar now?"

"Okay," Angela was half talking to herself now, "something happened with Booth at Christmas, you both avoided each other, which means he's just as freaked out as you, and now you have to go undercover with him in Vegas?"

"He'll be here soon Ange, I need to get my things ready, I don't have time to talk about this."

"But you'll what? Go on a pretend vacation with him? Pretend you don't have crazy feelings for him?"

"I do not have 'crazy' feelings for Booth, Angela," She huffed, closing a file rather viciously, slamming the papers down as she tried to cram them all into a neat pile, "we are partners, nothing more."

"I own a dictionary." Angela shot back, "partners can mean so much more Sweetie," she smiled, "what happened at Christmas?"

"I spent Christmas Day alone, Angela, you know that. I've been here every day since then, what could possibly have happened?"

"Ok, so you just suddenly decided that you don't want to work with Booth?"

"Of course I want to work with Booth," Brennan defended herself weakly,

"You keep turning him away and he'll be reassigned, you'll lose him."

"How could I possibly lose him? He's not an object and he is not mine to lose in any case."

"You think that Sweetie," Angela replied, condescendingly, "just don't blame me when he gets a new partner."

"Why would Booth get a new partner?" Brennan asked curiously, watching her friend for any indication she was actually telling the truth.

"Do you know how hard he has to fight to stay with you? He's always arguing with his boss about it, how could you not hear?"

"He fights with Cullen about it?" Brennan was stunned,

"He argues with someone about it, I've heard him quite a bit." Angela stopped, not wanting to hurt her emotionally fragile friend, "I know you love him, I know you don't want to believe me, that's fine, but whatever's wrong, whatever you and he did, let him know. He's going to go crazy otherwise. You obviously didn't sleep together as he's blatantly confused, but Sweetie, he feels exactly the same way as you," She frowned, getting up and walking towards the door, stopping briefly to look directly at Brennan, "you should let him know how you feel before he stops fighting."

"Booth would never stop fighting," Brennan told her friend firmly, watching as Angela stood in the doorway, a mixture of pity and hope on her delicate features.

"Let him know how much you believe in him, not me." Was all Angela said before walking away, leaving Brennan confused and running late in getting ready. She only had ten minutes to collect her necessary belongings before Booth would be here to brief her on the undercover part of the investigation. Sliding her laptop back into its carry case and placing a copy of all the necessary paperwork next to it to keep it flat, Brennan picked up her cell phone and purse, slipping both inside her carry bag, wondering how long they would be away and what she should pack.


	2. Chapter 2

A huge thank you to everyone reading this, I appreciate all the feedback :)

Chapter Two...

"Bones?" Booth pushed his way into her office, snapping his fingers in the space in front of her face when she didn't look up at him. "Hey, you ready?"

"Am I me?"

Booth stopped, his hand halfway to his wrist to check the time, "What?"

"Am I me or am I Roxie on this case?"

"Want me to explain now?" He offered, taking a seat exactly where Angela had been perched not long before.

Nodding, "Please," Brennan slowly stood from her office chair, rounding the desk she took the seat on the sofa, looking up at her partner expectantly.

Slipping down from the arm to the seat of the sofa, Booth smiled reassuringly at his partner. Reaching out, he took her hand gently, ignoring the way she stiffened at his intimate touch.

"I.D's on two of the women showed they were last seen in Vegas with their partners. Last known location of these women was a wedding chapel on the strip." He paused, taking in her skeptical look, "What?"

"So these two women were in Vegas with their 'partners'," she frowned, "as in colleagues or lovers?"

"Lovers," Booth replied with a small smile, "and yes, we will be Tony and Roxie, we need to investigate a couple of chapels in the area, there's rumours of underground auctions going on."

"Am I still working the case here as well?" Brennan asked slowly, mulling over what Booth had said, picking out what she wanted to clarify.

"Of course, we need this case wrapped up before we find any more victims." Booth squeezed her hand gently, "We'll be Tony and Roxie when we're out, and Booth and Bones when we're in the hotel, just like last time."

"Ok, I can do that. Investigate chapels?"

"Pretend we're interested in getting married," he squeezed her hand when he saw her mouth open to voice her protests, "I know you don't believe in marriage, but we are going to _pretend_ that you do. We are going to _pretend_ that we are a _normal_ couple that wants to get married. You can pretend to have cold feet, you can pretend anything you want, but we need to investigate these chapels." Booth's tone brook no argument and for a moment Brennan simply looked down at her hand, watching his thumb rhythmically stroking across her skin.

"What are underground auctions?"

"Underground auctions," Booth exhaled, immensely grateful she wasn't pushing the point about the chapels just yet, but wondering how to explain the danger he was putting his partner in, "underground auctions are the illegal sale of people, usually in the sex or slavery trades."

"So we're going to pretend we want to take part in an antiquated and chauvinistic ritual, and then we're going to hope that no one tries to sell us into some chauvinistically depraved and antiquated sexual slavery market?" Brennan clarified, hoping she was wrong. There was no way Booth could be asking this of her, this was Booth, he couldn't keep from grimacing when the word sex was spoken.

"We are going to be Tony and Roxie, having a good time in Vegas, shopping and gambling, we are going to pay visits to a number of chapels, asking about what they offer, we are then going to give them a reason why we won't be getting married at that time. This is simply surveillance that if you don't agree to, I have to do with a new partner." Booth looked up at Brennan, his dark and sincere eyes meeting her pale and uncertain ones, "please, Bones?"

"A, a new partner?" Brennan exhaled slowly, her mind flashing back to what Angela had warned her about.

"Cullen's been riding me about having a proper agent as back up, he still doesn't like the idea of me doing my job and protecting you as well." Booth admitted, his eyes never leaving hers as he continued to stroke her hand, the connection helping him to focus in ways he didn't want to think about right now.

"I don't need protecting! I have my own gun." Brennan defended herself, unsure of what to say, Cullen had never liked her, but at least since she had found the person responsible for his daughters death, he had been almost friendly.

"I know you do. I know you could take me down in a second, but we need to change other people's minds, not my own." He grinned, "So we go to Vegas, show them that you're just as good out of the lab, and hopefully I get to keep my partner."

"Ok," Brennan smiled, an uneasy smile, but an acceptance that Booth was immeasurably grateful for. "So, Tony, when do we leave?"

"We have to swing by my office, pick up our paperwork, stop by the mall and get some outfits and then head out to Dulles by this evening." Booth smiled his charm smile, "let's hit the road, Babe."

"Don't call me 'babe'," Brennan told him, moving to grab her bag,

"We're undercover," Booth grabbed her by the waist, pulling her flush against his body, "Babe."

"If Angela sees or hears you, I will never hear the end of it." Brenna whispered fiercely, pushing herself away from his muscular frame and ignoring the memories of just weeks ago under the mistletoe, "just wait till we're out of here."

"Is that a threat or a promise?" Booth flirted, his hand ever present at the small of her back as he escorted her out of her office, "Babe?"

"I will talk about sex for the entire flight if you call me that again," Brennan threatened, leaving her partner speechless and a rather delicate shade of pink as he contemplated the possibilities of that conversation.

Seeing Booth blush delicately, Brennan smiled, leading the way across the lab floor, wishing her team good luck in examining the evidence, ignoring the immense smile plastered across Angela's face as she hugged her goodbye.

"Let yourself have fun," Angela whispered in her ear, kissing her cheek and pulling away. "Look after her," she told Booth sternly, ignoring Brennan's protests as she watched the bickering partners leave the lab, neither aware that they were wrapped around each other as they bickered, each more occupied with sarcastic banter that failed to cover up the uncomfortable thoughts ricocheting around their minds than the arms that bound them together.

"Do you think they even realise what they have?" Cam wondered aloud, still gazing at the spot where Booth and Brennan had just disappeared.

"Of course," Angela grinned, looking at the skeptical faces of her colleagues, "why else would they be so petrified?"

"I hardly think walking out of here like that qualifies as 'petrified'" Hodgins refuted, looking between Angela and Cam with interest. He wouldn't be surprised if the two of them were on a flight to Vegas the next day to spy on the partners. Especially Angela.

"Please," Angela scoffed, "something happened between them at Christmas and they're both absolutely terrified of it. Bren is scared of even being around Booth alone, trust me, this case will be the one."

"The one?" Cam smiled, "you think?"

"I don't think," Angela grinned, picking up her sketch pad, "I know." And with that, she strolled away, a skip in her step at the thought of her best friend finally allowing herself possible happiness with Booth.


	3. Chapter 3

Getting into the details of the case now, based loosely off of a very disturbing documentary I watched.

Thanks to everyone who's still reading :) and huge thanks to everyone who had added this to their faves/alerts and/or left a wonderful review :)

Chapter Three…

"Ok, what do we know about the case?" Booth sat comfortably against the headboard of the queen sized bed, the case files spread between him and Bones, who sat crosslegged at the foot of the bed with an intense frown on her face, her hair obscuring her from his view until she looked up.

"We know now that victim number one is Nichola Osborne, aged 27, lived in Denver with her boyfriend. They went to Las Vegas four months ago and never returned. Her mother reported them missing the following week. This lead us to positively identify victim two as Jordan Spendlow, age 28, her boyfriend of two years." She paused, taking a deep breath and looking up at Booth before returning her gaze to her notes balanced on her knee. "CCTV at their hotel confirms they left the lobby early in the day and never returned, room was paid for until the end of that week. They were never seen again."

"Hotel staff say they had been looking at chapels and were excited to be eloping that week." Booth added, looking up from his own notes, "it says here that Spendlow was Jewish, his family didn't approve of his choice, local police looked into that angle when they disappeared."

"Possible religious motive," Brennan noted, stretching her back slightly to alleviate the discomfort of hunching over paperwork after a long cross country flight. "Victim three is a single mother from Vegas, no link to any of the male victims yet, left the two year old son with a babysitter when she went on a date a few weeks after victims one and two disappeared. Babysitter couldn't remember the date's name and reported it to the police early the next morning. The child was relocated to other family members." She frowned, "a date with an unnamed man hardly constitutes a visit to a wedding chapel does it?"

"This is Vegas, Bones," Booth gestured to the reddish glow that illuminated the window of their room, "anything is possible."

"Including selling women and men into prostitution rings?"

"Apparently," Booth sighed, leaning back against the headrest, closing his eyes as he fought for words. "Look, I know this is crazy. We have eight dead people, possibly four dead couples. We also have testimony from a woman who was caught in a raid down here in Nevada. She went to the Sweet Hearts Chapel just off the strip with her boyfriend, they handed over their ID's and marriage license, signed their lives away. Said they told her she had to pay off what they'd paid for her, made her work for them, beat her when she refused, killed her husband in front her. Multiple gunshots to his face, body was never recovered. She died a few hours after being released from hospital, drive by shooting. Suspect was on a motorcycle." Booth hung his head, "Everyone who was caught in that raid was murdered before they had a chance to give a lengthy interview to the Feds."

"Okay, Victims four and five have been positively identified as Winston and Sarah Holder, both aged 32 from San Fransisco. Married three years ago, seperated two years ago, went to Vegas to renew their vows after marriage counselling in June." She looked up at Booth once more, a frown still marring her features, "That was seven months ago, three months before victims one and two, although the bodies are at the same stage of decomposition, leading Zach to agree that they were all killed and dumped approximately six weeks ago."

"Ok, that leaves us with victim six, Jaymi Kuzminski, age 16 from Bethesda, visiting her mother in Vegas over a year ago, called her dad to say she was fine, supposed to be heading home within the week." Booth read from his notes, "She was identified by dental records, Zach said she had multiple fractures to both legs, arms and ribs as well as a fractured mandible. We have no idea if she was with anyone, but she was spotted by an old school friend outside a chapel two days after she called her father. He couldn't remember the name of the chapel, but says she was fine, was looking forward to visiting some show with him that evening. Mother says she left for the show, she never met the friend or made it to the show."

"Where do we even start?" Brennan asked, beyond frustrated at the fact that she was here in a capacity other than her area of expertise. She was apparently proving herself to the FBI that she was indeed more than just a way of gathering evidence in cases,in the hopes that Cullen and his bosses would allow Booth to continue their partnership.

"We investigate the chapels as Tony and Roxie," Booth repeated for the seventh time that day, "we can start in the morning, asking about the packages that they offer, the prices, whatever, I don't know!" He smiled his irresistable charm smile, "I've never done this before."

"And I never will again." Brennan declared, her eyes running over the lines of text in the files, hopelessly trying to find something else to work on. It was beyond late for the day that they had had. After a quick lunch and a tiring amount of shopping for clothes she would be glad to burn back in DC, they had finally left the Hoover building with fake identification for the 'wedding' they were planning. The flight hadn't been overly horrendous, although Brennan knew she would be paying for an upgrade on the return flight. Sitting in a cramped economy section sharing one large screen on the wall of the row in front was not the way she liked to fly.

"You remember what Gordon Gordon said about definitive statements?" Booth smirked, his foot moving gently to poke her knee, making her look up, caught in his gaze as he face coloured slightly.

"I remember telling you that I hate psychology." Brennen retorted, ignoring the tingling in her knee where Booth's toes had made contact. "Sweets is just as bad."

"He sent over a profile," Booth smoothly transitioned the conversation before Bones could become to uncomfortable, "says we're looking for a smaller ring than the FBI thought. He says it's probably just a few people working the chapels, maybe fronting as witnesses, that are catering to a larger ring that the FBI is already working on infiltrating."

"Why was the case bumped to you?" Brennan asked, genuinely curious as to why Booth had been presented with the case when so many FBI agents were in on the matter. There had been agents from many different states involved in the recovery and identification of the bodies as murders had taken place across state lines and involved a minor, but the case had been sent to the Jeffersonian for identifications before Booth had gotten the call.

"Cullen wants me to branch out, something about his agents being the best in the country." Booth answered quickly, putting away his notes after a swift glance at the clock, "I have to prove I can do this job, with you."

"With me?" Brennen repeated, her breath inexplicably caught in her throat as she awaited his response,

"I want you as my partner Bones," Booth began, hesitantly, "I'm not sure how long I'm going to be doing this job." He held up his hand this time, offering up the space beside him and waiting for Bones to get comfortable, "There's a lot of junior agents coming up through the ranks, and Cullen wants me to work with them instead."

"He wants them to be as well trained as you." Brennan remarked, pleased with how detached she sounded.

"Probably, but I promised I could convince him that you were the best possible partner for me, said you were the only one I trusted to have my back." Booth stopped, thankful that Bones was sitting beside him, no longer facing him meant that she couldn't gauge his reactions as well. "We crack this case before anyone else and it'll all blow over again."

"Before anyone else? How many undercover agents are working this case?" Brennan asked with a frown, she wasn't sure she liked the idea of agents she would presumably see and work with in the future seeing her as 'Roxie'.

"I have no idea." Booth admitted, resting his head back, "but we crack this case, pass Sweet's final evaluation and everything will be back to normal."

"Except for the Gormogon case?" Brennan frowned, "that's not normal."

"We're working that case together and we'll nail him. That's all I want."

"All you want?" Brennan raised an eyebrow, tilting her head to watch him closely,

"We're the centre Bones, we hold." He used her words, turning and looking intently into her eyes as he spoke, "Our team, the family it feels like, that won't change."

Focusing on the words her partner had spoken, Brennan sat still, contemplating what possible meanings those words could hold in his mind. The first thing that had sprang to her mind was something she was sure he was not even considering.

"Bones?" Booth prompted, unnerved by her thoughtful silence. If he could take back what he had said he would, snatch those words right out of the air like a cartoon. She was obviously confused about the meaning behind his words. Of course she was, this was Bones he was thinking about, she was probably the most literal person he knew apart from Zach.

"It won't change." She finally declared, "We'll solve this case."


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, a huge thank you to everyone reading this, especially to those leaving feedback. I really appreciate people taking the time to let me know what they thought.

- Roisin is actually pronounced more like 'row-sheen'. On with the case...

Chapter Four…

"Hey Ange," Brennan spoke quietly towards the computer, not wanting to disturb her slumbering partner just yet, it was still early. She was curled up in the armchair at the end of the bed, her laptop perched on the small wooden dining table, allowing her to work directly with her team as they examined the evidence back at the Jeffersonian, "What have you found?"

"Zach has found an anomaly on the skull on victim seven," Angela's voice floated from the small speakers, her face displayed across the screen for Brennan to talk to. Sitting up straighter, Brennan's robe gaping open at her chest revealing more than she realised until she saw an uncomfortable Zach clearing his throat behind Angela, "The shot was from exactly the same angle given the height of the victim, but it seems that the bullet lost trajectory." The young anthropologist moved across the screen and shrugged at the camera, "It entered the frontal bone from above, but somehow it didn't reach the occipital bone like the other females."

"Still a .38 caliber?" Brennan confirmed, adding that fact to her hand written notes, "any I.D. yet?"

"Roisin O'Driscoll," Angela's voice came through the speakers once more, "a native to Nevada, missing six months. Age 29, divorced, no children, ex-husband's alibi apparently checked out the night she disappeared."

"Any medical conditions?" Booth asked, making Brennan look up in surprise, she had been too focused on her screen that she hadn't heard or seen Booth get up from the bed behind her.

"Good morning Booth," Angela called out in her cheeriest tone, watching the monitor with poorly disguised glee as the agent appeared, sleep mussed and wearing very little to cover his well muscled body, "Medical reports should be here within the hour, give us an indication if anything inside her head stopped the bullet. In the mean time," the artist winked, "How's Vegas?"

"We haven't been out yet." Brennan cut in impatiently, "We landed at midnight and it's only eight now, how would we know?"

"Well," Angela smirked slyly, waiting for Cam ascend the platform to join them, "We heard Vegas was pretty _hot_ last time you were there."

"The temperature is similar." Brennan replied, remembering the excuse she had hurriedly concocted the last time they had been here, "Any progress on Victim eight?"

"Not yet." Cam was the one who answered, "No dental, skull is still refusing to go back together with all the pieces that were missing."

"We'll find them," Angela assured the undercover couple, "You just worry about being in love." she grinned, showing off her perfect white teeth as she watched the pair on the screen stare back at her.

"Angela? I've got some proposing to do," Booth eventually told her, smirking back at her image on the screen, knowing she would want to know what was going on now he'd let that slip, "you squints find out who the last victim was and we'll find out who killed them." And with that, he closed the screen, taking Brennan by the hand and pulling her up, "C'mon Roxie," he drawled, looking appreciatively at her figure in the sweat pants and tank top that lay beneath the now open robe, "don'tcha wanna blow some cash on a diamond or two?"

"Does that mean I have to go win that money in the casino first?" Brennan asked wearily, unable to comprehend how Booth was able to cope with the temptation of gambling in the casino that lay just floors below them. She was barely able to keep her mind off of the subject of them, the kiss they had shared, the friendship that lay between them, the line that lay just beyond that friendship. How could he not think about the temptation?

"No!" Booth looked horrified at her suggestion, almost wounded, she thought with a frown, "Bones, I have a ring for you."

"Why would you have a ring for me?" Brennan asked, genuinely curious as to why her partner would already have a ring. He had known about the case for barely 48 hours, when would he have had time to get a ring? And how would he know her ring size?

"Bones, I'm gonna propose to a beautiful woman, and she pretty much has to say yes," Booth smirked, "so I have a ring, I have Roxie, and now all I need is an audience."

"An audience?" Brennan repeated, her mind racing as she imagined scenarios of Booth proposing to her. She may not ever want to get married, but she couldn't deny the strange appeal it had, the very thought of Booth down on one knee willing to commit himself to her… She shook her head almost imperceptibly, focusing on her partner and the words spilling from his lips.

"Did you not hear me?" Booth smiled his most charming of smiles, "you have to say yes, and I think that's just what my ego needs." He chuckled, ignoring her retort about his apparently over inflated ego. He would get to propose to Bones, and there was no way she could turn him down as they would be Tony and Roxie. He would, for the time being, be allowed to place his grandmother's engagement ring on her finger and show her off to the world as the love of his life.

Booth frowned, swiftly turning away from Bones on the pretence of gathering his clothes. Taking his bundled up clothing into the bathroom, he shut the door firmly, leaning back against it as he tried to figure out what he was doing.

He had gone above Bones' authority to ensure this investigation was allowed to take place, he hadn't given his partner the respect he knew she deserved by being open with her, by trusting her with his reasons, until he had gotten his own way. He had ignored the fact that she would be pretending to be not only a person she wasn't, but she was having to fake an interest in everything he believed in on his behalf, with no outlet for her own beliefs.

He had gotten so caught up in proving to his superiors just how well he worked with his partner in a professional way that he had overlooked the very thing that made their partnership work so well. The friendly understanding between them had vanished.

They still hadn't found the strength between them to discuss the fact that they had kissed and here he was trying to push her into a false engagement.

Forgetting his clothes in his hurry, Booth pulled open the door, locating Bones standing by the window of the room, it's luxurious view barely noticed by the usually perceptive agent. Striding purposely towards his partner, Booth stopped barely an inch from her face, invading her personal space in a way he knew only he could get away with. Taking gingerly her by the wrist, he smiled gently, looking deep into her eyes as he exhaled slowly, "I'm sorry."

"Uh," Brennan managed, her superior mind racing to comprehend his meaning, "for what?"

"For this case." Booth tried to explain,

"Did you murder those people?" Brennan demanded, stepping back to regain her focus on the confusing topic, "Did you sell them into prostitution and beat them regularly?"

"Wrong aspect," Booth clarified, "I just realised just how much I had dumped on you yesterday." He grinned bashfully, "I remembered you didn't actually want to marry me."

For one of the only times in her life, Doctor Temperance Brennan found herself unable to find the words she wanted to use to express herself. Narrowing her eyes at her partner, her mind raced through possible words to verbalise, but somehow they failed on their way from her brain to her tongue, leaving her standing in the centre of the room, restrained by his fingers around her wrists, her mouth hanging open while Booth watched her intently.

"When has it ever mattered what I want to believe?" She finally spoke, a teasing lilt to her voice. "I didn't want to be called Bones if you remember?" and with that, she stepped back, his hand dropping to his side as she walked away, taking her own clothes into the bathroom and shutting herself out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

OK, massive apologies for the long delay in getting this up, needless to say, I messed up, deleting this by accident after uploading the chapters in the wrong order. Thank you to everyone still reading and reviewing! All rewritten from memory, here's hoping you like it!

Chapter Five…

"Ready?" Booth called over his shoulder after hearing the bathroom door click slightly as it opened. Bones had holed herself up in the bathroom almost an hour ago after he had attempted to apologise for dragging her into the F.B.I. part of the investigation their most recent case demanded.

It wasn't as if she wasn't already on the case; her team had been working tirelessly to identify the eight victims they had been sent from the Nevada desert, but undercover operations from F.B.I agents in almost every state indicated that there were many more missing people than the eight who were finally being identified back in D.C.

"Ready," Brennan agreed, picking a red purse out of the jumbled mess of shopping bags in her case and slipping her phone inside it. She briefly considered tucking her gun inside it, but thought better of it when she realised that Booth was waiting at the door for her. She knew better than to keep Booth waiting any longer than necessary for breakfast.

"C'mon th… whoa" Booth turned to hurry his partner up and caught sight of her outfit. All hunger pangs seemed to evaporate in his mind as he took in the sight of his partner. Dressed in a practically skintight, deep red dress, she looked absolutely stunning. Her hair was curled, hanging down around her face, framing the amount of make-up that made her eyes stand out. Her figure was practically spilling out of the fabric and the length was practically indecent on legs as long as hers. Looking down, Booth had to bite his lip to stop himself from groaning. Strapped to her feet were a pair of stilettos in exactly the same shade of red as her dress with a heel big enough to make her just slightly taller than him.

"We still have plenty of time for breakfast," Brennan assured Booth, sweeping past him and out into the corridor, pressing the button for the lift before Booth could catch up with her.

"Time for breakfast?" Booth repeated quietly, "Then down the strip to look at wedding chapels." He smiled nervously, "Ok, come on then."

"The evidence seems to point to the Sweet Hearts Chapel," Brennan spoke just as quietly, knowing there were other agents in Vegas with them, doing exactly the same thing as them had slightly put her off her 'Roxie' routine. "We should go there first."

"First is breakfast." Booth spoke firmly, he had waited long enough for food this morning and even though he couldn't deny the wait had been more than worth it to see Bones in her skimpy outfit, he knew his respect for her, and how hard she was trying on this case was more important than his hunger or raging libido. "Then you're right, we should check it out."

"What exactly will we be looking for?" Brennan asked as the metal doors closed and the sensation of dropping hit them. She had never liked lifts in tall buildings.

"It's not so much looking for things," Booth attempted to explain as they dropped from the thirty-second floor, "It's getting a feel for the place, seeing what the employees are like, what they have to offer couples that's any better than the other hundred chapels out there." He shrugged, placing his hand on the small of her back and moving her slightly closer to him, "It's just pretending that we want this kind of thing."

Waiting until the doors had opened and they had left the confines of the metal box, Brennan led the way into the dining room, following a young waiter to a table, "What kind of thing do you want?" She asked curiously.

"What?" Booth shifted in his seat, unsure of how to answer the question. Instead he picked up the menu, scanning the items casually, "How do you mean?" He finally asked, his curiosity also getting the better of him.

"You said we would 'pretend that we want this kind of thing'" She looked across the small table, watching as Booth considered her answer.

"I would want," Booth paused, looking intently at his partner, "I would want whatever made the woman I loved happy," he smiled his charm smile, "A Vegas chapel is not something I'd considered, but to be honest, I don't know if I'll ever have a woman who wants that kind of commitment."

Brennan smiled, grateful for the honest answer that Booth had given, but more than grateful to the young waiter who was interrupting their conversation to take their order.

"What about you?" Booth asked once the waiter had walked away, "What 'kind of thing' do you want?"

Smiling, Brennan locked eyes with Booth, hoping he wouldn't question her too much, there was already too much as stake to start being irrational, "I don't want much more than what I've already got." Breaking eye contact, she focused on her glass of water, "Angela will call as soon as they I.D. the last victim, she'll want to know what we've found out."

"The local boys are working on credit card receipts and CCTV footage, all we really have to do is set ourselves up in some of the chapels." Booth responded calmly, intent on keeping to himself just how confusing he was finding some of the recent conversations they had had.

The past few months had seen him out of his depth when it came to this incredible woman. She had thrown him through so many emotions over the course of their partnership, he was constantly amazed by her and her capabilities, not only in her field, but the undefinable way she was able to constantly evolve in what he liked to call the real world. She was undeniably the only one he wanted, but the transition from partners across the line he had drawn looked tricky.

Taking her hand from the table, he traced along her fingers with his own, watching her face as she watched his movements, confusion warring with a smile that eventually broke through to light up her face. This was what he wanted, he thought with a barely supressed grin. Using his free hand to delve into his pocket, he deftly hooked the small ring between his finger and thumb, lifting it above the table for Bones to see.

Watching Booth stroke her hand, Brennan wondered what he was up to. Knowing Booth as well as she did, she was aware that he very rarely did anything without a purpose behind it, he was as driven as she was, but in a very different way. Her mind promptly stopped thinking however when he produced a small silver ring, the diamond on top sparkling in the artificial light of the restaurant.

Lifting her hand with his hand, Booth slowly slid the ring down Bones' ring finger, his eyes never leaving hers as he continued to hold her hand in his own.

"Suits you," he smiled, knowing it would be painful to watch when she eventually took it off.

"No audience?" Brennan whispered, not fully understanding why her voice had chosen this moment to desert her.

"Didn't need one." Booth whispered back, his voice low and husky, making Brennan flush slightly, lost in her mind and oblivious to the fact that Booth was also caught up in his own thoughts. Thoughts of just how and when he had changed his mind from what he had planned when he awoke this morning to just a moment ago when he had realised that Bones was worth more to him than a cheap and unnecessary display of his alpha-male posturing.

He was drawn from his thoughts when the pimply faced young waiter appeared again, holding his large plate of breakfast and a pathetic looking saucer of pink grapefruit for Bones. "That's it?" He couldn't help but say, regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth and hers narrowed in annoyance.

"It's nutritious." Brennan told her partner, watching as he cut into his bacon, french toast, pancakes and eggs, moving them about his plate. "And far less likely to clog my arteries than what you've chosen."

"But mine actually touches my tastebuds," Booth grinned, knowing that her annoyance with him was only a show, she actually enjoying their childish bickering just as much as he did. Angela was right, it was kind of hot.

"And yet you'd rather talk about it than eat it?" Brennan asked, her eyebrows raised as she watched Booth dig in to his breakfast in retaliation.


	6. Chapter 6

Once again, a HUGE thank you to everyone reading, reviewing and putting alerts on this story, it really means a lot to me that people are enjoying this. But anyway, on with the case. I'm pretty surprised that no-one picked up Zach's mistake in the evidence :) Things are about to get even more complicated...

Chapter Six…

"There," Brennan pointed, her movement making the ring on her finger dazzle in the morning sunlight and amplifying her more than ample cleavage in the tight, low cut dress she wore, distracting Booth slightly from the destination ahead of them. He had been distracted all morning thanks to his partner. First she had been crawled from the bed they had shared in a skin tight, very low cut tank top, then she had dropped mind-bogglingly confusing hints about what she wanted from him, then she had reappeared in a stunningly sexy dress, complete with 'fuck-me heels' that meant her legs were still begging for his attention. His lip still throbbed from where he had bit it in an attempt to keep himself silent.

"Sweet Hearts Chapel" Booth read aloud from the neon sign that hung above the door to a small white building. "Is there where Roxie wants to get married?" He asked playfully, leading his partner through the white double doors that signified the entrance to the chapel, noting the fact that she was actually thinking about her answer. "C'mon Babe," he affected his 'Tony' accent, his arm wrapped around her body, his hand splayed possessively from her hip, fingers across her abdomen, something she was probably fuming about on the inside, but nevertheless, she had allowed him to hold her close as they made their way from their hotel, manouvering themselves down the busy streets as a couple.

Enjoying the feel of Bones' body under his hands, Booth grinned, his posturing becoming more macho as he spotted a female assistant heading their way. "C'mon Roxie," Booth whispered, squeezing her hip gently as he manouvred them to face the middle aged woman striding their way.

"Hi!" The woman cried out, still a few paces away from them, almost as if she expected them to make a break for it before she could reach them. "I'm Taylor McBride, how can I help you?"

Waiting for Bones to say something, it was a few seconds before Booth had realised that no one had answered the woman. He smiled, his fingers edging up and down slightly on Bones' hip.

"Hi, I'm Tony and this is my fiancèe, Roxie." Booth extended his free hand, marvelling at the speed in which the woman grabbed it, pumping it up and down enthusiastically.

"Would you like to get married now?" She asked, a manic smile pasted on to her orange coloured face.

"Er, not today, we're still looking around." Booth answered, gently poking Bones in the hip to get her to participate in the conversation.

"Then I'm sure you'll want to look at our brochures? I'm sure I can find you something to suit all your needs," Taylor told them, her large, hazel eyes more concerned with the muscles in Booth's exposed arms than the woman that she should have been pursuading to want the most expensive package they offered. Before they could respond, she had turned away, probably expecting them to follow her as she strode across the lobby of the small chapel, determination and confidence in each stride.

"Lost your voice?" Booth hissed, taking the opportunity to talk to Bones while the woman was occupied in finding them some brochures.

"What am I supposed to say?" Brennan hissed back, her eyes fiery in her barely contained anger, "I don't want to look at marriage brochures, I want to find out who murdered those people."

"And I don't?" Booth whispered furiously, "and it's a wedding, not a marriage. A wedding is one day, the marriage is the rest of your life."

"I can't do this." Brennan whispered, her eyes telling Booth the truth, she just couldn't bring herself to forget about her own beliefs to make this plausible.

"Fine," Booth exhaled, faking a smile as the woman made her way back to them.

"Hi, would it be possible for us to have a look around?" he widened his smile, knowing she was falling for it, "we want everything to be perfect."

"Oh, of course," Taylor simpered, her hand reaching out to guide them around, "Well this is just the public lobby ," She smiled, "if you'd like to follow me through into the chapel, there's no wedding at the minute, but I'm sure you'll just love the chapel." She glanced over at Brennan, "Nervous?" she asked, holding open the door to the chapel for them to pass through, "Wonderful isn't it? The dressing rooms are just through those doors on the left."

Brennan stood in the back of the chapel, keeping completely silent, not out of fear of blowing the case, but simply because there was nothing for her to say. The room was decorated in the most disgustingly sickening shade of pale pink, interspersed with pearly white and hot pink helium balloons in heart shapes along every wall. It was the most unromantic place Brennan had ever seen in her life. She only hoped Booth shared her opinion as he seemed to be just as speechless himself.

"Oh, uh, wow." Booth managed when he realised Ms McBride was waiting for his response to the awful room. There were candles and an altar, but that was honestly the only thing that struck him as 'normal' about the small chapel. Even if they were both pink.

Counting himself lucky that Bones hadn't immediately laughed at the sight of the room, he turned to her, looking at the tight expression on her face and the small line her mouth had fixed itself into. "Is there an office we could use to discuss the brochures?"

"Right this way," Taylor smiled, obviously thinking she had found some committed customers, "You can use my office and I'll join you in a few moments if you'll excuse me?" Nodding, Brennan surged forward, following the chirpy woman through an almost hidden side door, coming to an abrupt halt just inside a room just as sickening as the one they had just left.

The walls were painted a shocking shade of hot pink making it extremely hard to focus on anything but the fact that the very room seemed to be screaming at them. The wall behind the desk was neatly covered in pictures of happy couples, posing in their wedding clothes at the pink altar in the chapel. The other walls however provided no relief from the intensity of the colour or the exuberance of the theme in the shape of hearts.

Watching the woman place the brochures on the white plastic desk, Booth nodded his thanks, pulling out a chair for Bones before taking the seat next to her, leaning in close to her ear to whisper, "Not wanna get married in Barbie's Dreamhouse?"

"I never liked Barbie." Brennan responded, her eyes still travelling the room, wondering how anyone could possibly get any work done in an office this distracting. "I preferred Sindy."

"Of course you did." Booth whispered, watching Bones carefully, "You think she could be involved?"

"She's approximately my height, the murderer was between six two and six four." Brennan reminded him, "I can see no evidence that could possibly link her to the underground auctions."

"No evidence?" Booth repeated, leaning closer to his partners ear, not wanting anything to look unusual if they were to be intruded on. "The picture on the right, five from the top and two in, is our first two victims," he grimaced, back into business mode, "now we know where they married."

"And the placement of the photograph suggests that it wasn't supposed to be noticed. We read from left to right and the edge photographs draw our attention away from the ones in the middle." Brennan spoke quietly, knowing there was no way they could take any of these photographs from the wall without it being suspicious. "Booth, this links two of our victims to the evidence of the woman who was rescued." She paused, watching Booth open the top brochure on the desk, "Does this mean I have to show a false interest in getting married in this Barbie Dreamhouse?"

"It means we both have to show an interest," Booth didn't look up from the brochure, "although we can take as long as we want to agree on what we want."

"Can we at least agree that this place is the least desirable place in which I would ever imagine taking part in such a ritual." Brennan smiled, seeing the laughter in the way Booth schooled his face, not wanting to laugh aloud should they be interrupted at any point.

"We can agree on that." Booth agreed, passing a brochure to Bones, "but at least pretend you're interested in one aspect of it."

"I'm interested in getting out of here before my head begins to ache." Brennan argued, her brochure laying unopened on her lap, "Can we come back when I have sunglasses?"

"You think I like the pink?" Booth retorted, silenced quickly when the handle on the door creaked, announcing the arrival of Taylor.

"See anything you like?" Taylor asked perkily, slipping around the desk in a way that suggested she wanted Booth to observe her.

"We're a little unsure at the moment." Booth answered, holding up the brochure from his lap, "would it be possible for us to arrange to come back tomorrow once we've had a chance to look through all these options?" He smiled at her, secure in the knowledge that his charm smile had never failed him.

"Oh, of course," Taylor smiled back, her eyes sparkling in their enthusiasm, "y'all come back anytime you're ready and we'll get it all ready for you."

"We'll definitely be back," Booth told her sincerely, "Thank you so much for all your help."


	7. Chapter 7

HUGE Thanks to everyone for reading this, I apologise for the delay, I'm back at work full-time now sadly, so time to get online and post is limited  On with the case anyway…

Chapter Seven

"_Thank you for the help_." Brennan mimicked as they entered their hotel room, arms laden down with cartons of food, "_We'll be back_."

"You think I don't know that place was hideous?" Booth muttered, dumping his share of the cartons on the table and pulling out a seat. "When did you turn into such a girl? Do I complain when you expect me to look at dead things?"

"It was wrong!" Brennan spat, "this isn't even about me not believing in marriage or churches, that place was pink and looked nothing like any church I've ever seen!"

"And exactly how many churches have you ever seen?" Booth rose to the bait, temporarily forgetting the food in front of him.

"More than you probably," Brennan shot back, "you know nothing about me Booth, don't fool yourself into thinking you do." She glared at her partner, incensed not just by the topic but the entire situation that she had no control over.

"Fried rice?" Booth offered, refused to partake in the argument any further. He had no doubt that she would be able to carry on an argument all by herself, even with a brick wall had it found some way to annoy her, but he was hoping she would calm down and allow the logic that she usually applied to every aspect of her life to assist in her thought processes this time. He wanted this case wrapped up as soon as possible, the longer they were stuck pretending to be Tony and Roxie the more chance they had of being caught out.

"I need a shower," Brennan told Booth, watching him in barely veiled fury as he shovelled fried rice onto his plate, his dismissal of her and her feelings grating on her very last nerve.

What more could he possibly expect she wondered as she snatched up her toiletry case and closed the bathroom door, turning the lock with a loud click and a small amount of satisfaction. This kind of thing was exactly why she needed Angela in her life so badly. Angela would take one single look at the situation, laugh, and then expertly deal with it all. She would know what to say, how to act, what to do with these irrational feelings that were distracting her from her usual behaviour. She was usually able to compartmentalise her emotions at all times, to acknowledge the feelings stirring inside for her partner, but the ability to put them aside and focus on the case had abandoned her. Maybe it was the loss of anything tangible to focus on. Booth had once told her that they each had their own 'things' in an investigation. Undercover investigations were his thing. Bones were the only thing she could comfortably excel at.

Or maybe, if she was completely honest with herself, she was still wondering why Booth hadn't proposed properly to her. Or why he hadn't questioned why she didn't want much more than what she had now, normally Booth was intrigued when she gave vague answers to his personal questions. Telling herself that she was being ridiculous, she got up from her seat on top of the toilet, glancing into the mirror to check that her face wouldn't betray her loss of control over her emotions. Satisfied, Brennan pulled open the door, taking a seat at the table and helping herself to what Booth had left in the cartons.

Watching Bones take the seat opposite him, Booth bit his tongue once again, not willing to start another argument by asking her why she hadn't taken the shower she said she wanted. He smiled when she looked up at him, thanking him with a small smile of her own for the food he had left, obviously not wanting to risk her wrath if he'd eaten her half of the take-out.

"I should call Ange," Brennan told Booth, handing back the cartons for Booth to finish up, "Let her know that we've confirmed where Victims One and Two were married so Hodgins can work with particulates, see if anything brings up a match to the file of the woman who was rescued." She frowned, "The police in Nevada did take her clothes as evidence didn't they?"

"Bones, they rescued her from a prostitution ring, she wasn't wearing anything." Booth told her uncomfortably, "They probably didn't know to look to particulates but the file can be sent to the Jeffersonian if they need it."

"Okay," Brennan exhaled, blowing the boiling hot air from her mouth in an attempt to cool the mouthful of food that had just burnt her tongue. "Hot," She muttered, smiling when Booth immediately looked up at her, "the rice," she clarified.

"Of course." Booth agreed, leaning backwards on his chair with a small smile, watching as his partner ate properly for the first time that day. A few cups of coffee and half a grapefruit would not have sustained him halfway down the strip, unlike Bones. She had not complained much during the day even though it was all he could do to not complain about his hunger and the case. She had clearly been pissed off with the Sweet Hearts Chapel, even though it had given them their first concrete piece of evidence linking the victims to the prostitution ring the F.B.I. suspected to be responsible.

If Booth was completely honest with himself, he was just as pissed off that the chapel they were investigating was seemingly run by an insanely cheerful woman with a frightening passion for the colour pink. It was unexpected, and that was one thing Booth hated when investigating a murder. He liked things to be straightforward, someone to blame, someone to pay for the crime they had committed and limited paperwork. He wasn't sure he could survive Hurricane Temperance should she choose to let loose on this case, it had been brewing since Christmas, and Booth still wasn't sure which way things were likely to go.

"Now what?" Brennan spoke, jarring Booth from his thoughts once again.

"Now, we call home, make sure everyone's working harder than we are." Booth grinned, sliding his cell phone across the table.

"Booth, it's almost eight back in D.C, you can't honestly expect them to be working this case still?"

"No, I'm gonna ring Parker to say good night while you ring Angela," Booth grinned, pushing his chair away from the table and taking his phone with him as he settled agaisnt the window on the opposite side of the room, watching Bones as she pulled her laptop out of her bag, setting up her satellite link to her best friend.

"Hey Bud," Booth spoke into the phone, a wide smile stealing it's way across his face as his son launched into a detailed recollection of his day at school and Bones greeted Angela with a smile on her face. It was times like this that made their partnership such a success, after a fairly tumultuous day of ups and downs, confusion and bickering, it was nice to know that ultimately, their partnership would survive.

After making sure Booth was occupied with speaking to Parker on his cell, Brennan made herself comfortable in her seat, tuning out what Booth was saying in the background as she swivelled the laptop to face her new seating position, she finally allowed herself to consider just what the hell was going on. Angela was giving her details of the woman whose remains had been identified that morning, but as far as Brennan had been aware, they had been looking for identifications of two male skeletons, not female. Interrupting Angela's speech on the possibilities of visiting chapels in Vegas, Brennan voiced her confusion.

"It's definitely a woman, Roisin O'Driscoll, age 29." Angela read from a file in her hand, looking back up to see her best friend's confused face. "The skull doesn't tell lies Sweetie."

"No, I believe you," Brennan assured Angela, recalling a case not so long ago where Angela's art had 'made science her bitch'. "Is Zach available?"

"I'll go find him." Angela replied, getting up from her chair and disappearing from the screen, leaving Brennan to listen to Booth wishing his son goodnight from both of them, startling her slightly. Why would Parker even care if she had said goodnight, even though she hadn't? Swivelling to see her partner, she smiled slightly as Booth held up his hand to silence her until he said his final goodbye, closing his cell with a smile on his own face.

"Alright?" Booth asked, hoping to distract her from whatever it was she was looking like she wanted to object to.

"Why did you say goodnight to Parker from me?" Brennan questioned, watching Booth as he grinned, sitting down on the edge of the bed, behind her chair.

"Parker asked if you were here with me, I said you were." Booth replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay," Brennan answered him, not wanting to dispute a point she didn't fully understand. "That seems…" She was saved from responding further when Zach announced his presence on the computer screen.

"Zach, the skull of Victim seven?" Brennan prompted, turning to face her young colleague.

"The anomaly suggests the victim was moving backwards at a substantial speed, approximately forty-five miles per hour when the bullet entered the skull, thus the loss of speed when the brain provided adequate resistance. We can conclude from the glass particles Hodgins found in the skull that she was in a motor vehicle when the bullet was fired, then she was reversing at high speed and the bullet lost trajectory after piercing the windscreen." Zach reported, looking somewhat uncomfortable under the stares of his former mentor and the FBI Agent that stared down from the large monitor in Angela's office.

"That's good Zach," Brennan praised, "but you clearly said we had four female and four male sets of remains, yet you've identified five females."

"You're right." Zach spoke quietly, waiting for Brennan to continue, looking up at the screen indecisively.

"I'd like you to go back over the rest of the body, determine if we were inaccurate with any measurements, Ange, could you run a background check on the woman the reconstruction identified?"

"Of course Dr Brennan," Zach agreed, moving off screen immediately to do as instructed presumably.

"That's weird," Angela commented, moving back onto the screen that Zach's face had vacated, "He never makes mistakes."

"Everybody makes one eventually," Booth spoke for the first time, drawing Angela's attention away from Brennan.

"Hey Booth," she greeted, a huge smile decorating her face, "How's Vegas?"

"Vegas is hot," Booth replied with a mischevious grin, "How's DC?"

"Boring without you two," Angela grinned, "Was it romantic?"

"It was the most repulsive thing I've ever seen." Brennan told the very confused artist.

"Huh?" Angela looked back at Booth, "You said you were going to propose!?"

"Oh," Brennan and Booth exhaled, smiling sheepishly for very different reasons, "yeah."

"I did, kind of." Booth chuckled, "Bones was talking about the chapel we went to."

"It was pink." Brennan declared as if that said it all. Apparently it did, as Angela pulled a sympathetic face.

"Ring?" Angela demanded, knowing that Brennan was too preoccupied with the apparent mistake they had made with identification of Victim seven to deny any juicy gossip if she asked subtly. She was definitely intrigued about the chapel they had visited, but that was a conversation for a time when Booth wasn't hovering in the background.

Lifting her hand to the camera in front of her face, Brennan allowed her friend to squeal and gush over it while she ran through thinghs once more in her brain. She hadn't actually examined the remains herself, she had allowed Zach to take the lead on this one as she had been busy with the evidence forms for an important court case. Now she was blaming herself for not taking the lead on this investigation from the very start.

"Bren?" Angela was asking when Brennan tuned back in to the conversation, "When you guys eventually tie the knot, I'm the Maid of Honour right?"

"Yes." Booth answered at the same time as Brennan cried out "No!"


End file.
